Last February, before the Veterans Affairs health care scandal broke, Sen. Bernard Sanders, chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, joined with 28 Democratic co-sponsors to offer a bill increasing funding for the VA by $20 billion — even though the agency had failed to use all the money Congress had given it in the form of big budget increases in recent years.

Sanders’ bill, S.1982, officially titled the Comprehensive Veterans Health and Benefits and Military Retirement Pay Restoration Act of 2014, was a hodgepodge of several previous bills. “The package would improve VA health care and dental care, expand educational opportunities, help the VA address a disability claims backlog and help veterans find jobs,” Sanders’ office said.